Reviews
Written by: Warren Gerds
Focusing on a single icon for the first time, Let Me Be Frank Productions puts its own appealing spins on songs of Paul McCartney in the new show, “Beer & Wings.” All but one of the songs are from McCartney’s days with the band Wings from the 1970s into the early ’80s. They’re pop, with [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
Take thousands of songs from hundreds of stars who played over the span of almost eight years at a now-mythical showplace in Green Bay, distill them to what will work for Let Me Be Frank Productions, and you have “The Carlton West.” The show is a flashback to 1977 to 1986, with quirky fictional characters, [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
Feeding off crowd enthusiasm on opening night Wednesday, Let Me Be Frank Productions romped through “Brent the Musical,” a new show calculated to lead into Sunday’s visit to Lambeau Field by the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre. The musical was inspired by Favre’s habitual fence sitting. Bingo. Favre’s latest episode is in the show, too. [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
Let Me Be Franks Productions’ Christmas show is a bit more meaningful this year because it has a meatier story to go along with the musical showcases. Troupe namesake Frank Hermans plays Old Man Jenkins, 67, who spends winter at his ice fishing shanty on Shawano Lake, often with his buddy Plansky (Tom Verbrick). Jenkins [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
A pregnant bride in a white gown singing and dancing with her three maids of honor in pretty salmon gowns sets off a sequence of Let Me Be Frank Productions at its vocal best in “My Big Fat Pulaski Wedding.” Amy Riemer, as the bride, opens the six-song section with the beautifully flowing “You Belong [...]
Written by: Gerds
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011104030506Â Some people roll their eyes about pop music of the 1970s and its superficial disco. Let Me Be Frank Productions has a knack for finding the heart and fun of just about any style and era, and so it is with “Juke Box of Cheese.” The homemade musical is set in a cheese factory [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
Unpredictable from show to show and night to night. That’s a trademark of Let Me Be Frank Productions, the do-all house show troupe of the Meyer Theatre in downtown Green Bay. This time, namesake Frank Hermans performs in a wheelchair because of double knee- replacement surgery. Hermans can walk, but he’s playing things on the [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
Take facts from here and there about Richard Nixon and Green Bay. Put them in a bottle with a bunch of songs with names in their title. Shake them up and make them into a musical. What you get is showbiz the Let Me Be Frank Productions way in “The Name Game.” The colorfully sung [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
Let Me Be Frank Productions’ “St. Mary’s Roller Rink” is a show, first, to sit back and enjoy the singing. The story is set in 1978, so there is a lot of lively disco dancing, which is fascinating to see done by a group. The production is like a concert, with a band fueling the [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
In the end, after all the child-like cuteness and grow-up parental pains, “A Frank’s Christmas 2011″ goes out in a blaze of glory. Kelly Haddad opens “Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee,” not as an old hymn but soulfully. The song kicks into rock-soul high gear with the cast dancing and soloists rapping and riffing. It’s [...]
Written by: Warren Gerds
“The title and concept are random”… “What story?” “Good question.” Even the characters in Let Me Be Frank Productions’ “Peter, Paul and Frank” pick on the framework of the troupe’s first show of 2012. That said, Frank’s unloads a hefty, showy showcase of singer-driven songs of the ’60s capped by another of the troupe’s sublimely [...]
